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Hi there! Thanks for stopping by.

I write fantasy for tweens and teens. I blog about books and writing and occasionally travel and homeschooling.

My world of Aluvia series is with Curiosity Quills Press, and is an upper-middle grade fantasy, well-suited for ages 11-14, though all ages can enjoy it. FAIRY KEEPER, MER-CHARMER and DRAGON REDEEMER each stand-alone but are best read as a series. My fourth book will be releasing with Blaze Publishing this summer, called THE WORST VILLAIN EVER.

This is a family-friendly site. Note: There are some spoilers in a few of my book reviews, primarily the ones done for my grad school classes. I do warn readers with a big, "SPOILER!" announcement on the review.

Welcome! I'd love to hear from you, so feel free to leave a comment!

Monday, February 20, 2012

MG Recommendation: POWERLESS, by Matthew Cody

As soon as I saw the cover of POWERLESS, it caught my eye. It's perfect for the book. I actually found the book on-line first, but then saw it at our school's scholastic book fair, so I hope Mr. Cody sees a lot of sales from that!

The first thing I noticed when I started reading was, a-HA!A PROLOGUE!See, modern books DO still have them.But as agents like to point out a lot, there had better be a VERY good reason for it and in this case, there is.

In POWERLESS, a kid named Daniel moves into a neighborhood where the kids have amazing powers…but they lose them and their memories of ever having those powers when they turn thirteen.So the prologue shows us how that works, with the character of Michael, who begins the chapter by flying and ends up by never remembering he had ever flown.The prologue is achingly poignant and sets the stage for us readers to really want someone to HELP those superkids!And when we meet the Sherlock-Holmes-Loving Daniel, we know he is the guy to do it.

I really hate to pigeon-hole books as "for boys" or "for girls" because, hey, I'm a girl I enjoyed this as an adult.And as a kid, I had a Marvel Comics subscription and would have loved this then, too.But as a former teacher, I will say that this book would be one I'd recommend to a boy in a heartbeat, especially one who might not have caught onto the joys of reading yet.Maybe a boy who mostly read only comics.It's not that it's an easy reader, because it's not.It's firmly middle grade, with some rather freaky moments near the end for that age group.

But because this book deals with superpowers and has a very fast moving plot, it will draw in a reluctant reader and keep him engaged with a plot he finds accessible and interesting.

But again, I think ALL readers would enjoy this book.It's a fast read, with twists and turns along the way.I didn't cry once, so that's nice because I've cried over too many stories lately.And the door is definitely open to a sequel with POWERLESS.Da-dah-DA-DUM!!

My favorite line is actually not one that affects the plot particularly.It describes Daniel's grandmother.But even as I was reading, I thought, "Oooh, that's a perfect description." I salute this fabulous simile:

""These days she always moved like that, as if she were made of glass in a house full of hard edges."Pg 93